Fracture starring Ryan Gosling & Anthony Hopkins

Fracture Movie Poster — Fracture starring Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling. 2007.

Fracture Premise

Ted Crawford (Anthony Hopkins) is a very smart, rich and successful man married to the beautiful Jennifer (Embeth Davidtz) who is many years his junior. Of course she is cheating on him with a guy close to her age- cop Robert Nunally (Billy Burke).

So Ted decides to kill his wife, destroy Rob and get away with it. He plans everything- from how Rob is the cop that shows up because there was a shooting in his house to how he will confess…

Willy Beachum (Ryan Gosling) is a young and very successful prosecutor dying to move up to the corporate world. He has only one case left, and then he will leave for his glamorous new career.

The case seems easy enough- they have the weapon, the confession, the guy. They just don’t have the body since Jennifer has gone into a coma. But hey, they have everything they need. Moreover, the defendant, Ted, seems crazy enough to represent himself…

But of course Ted is a lot smarter and a lot more meticulous than they could have ever imagined. He plays his cards well, and he seems to have foreseen every move.

As the case goes on, and Willy gets to see Ted for who he really is, but both his relationship (with corporate lawyer Rosamund Pike) and career get jeopardized. How the hell can he win against Ted?

Worth Watching

Fracture is a real treat for the lovers of a solid legal thriller. The actors, unsurprisingly, do a great job. The script is so cool that you think it was probably adapted (and adapted well) from a bestseller. Sure, the movie has flaws, and I couldn’t have cared less about Willy’s romance with the gorgeous lawyer Nikki (Rosamund Pike), but bear with it.

Their relationship gives us a good idea about Willy, and it carries elements that move the plot forward. The villain is extremely clever and well-prepared, and well… the only reason the movie got 7.1 (and not an 8 on IMDB) is because people don’t agree on the ending. Frankly, I loved it. Watch it.

Directed by Gregory Hoblit, written by Daniel Pyne & Glenn Gers.

Fun Notes on the Cast

– English actress Rosamund Pike plays Elizabeth Bennet’s older/prettier/milder sister Jane in 2005’s movie Pride and Prejudice. Elizabeth is played by Keira Knightley.

– Cliff Curtis, who plays Rob’s partner, co-starred in Colombiana as the uncle of the main character (Zoe Saldana) and he also guest-starred in two episodes of Body of Proof as the love interest of the main character Megan Hunt (Dana Delany).

– Billy Burke, who plays the lover/cop, is Bella’s father in the Twilight series.